A friend posted a recipe for Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars that she happened to stumble upon, and while it took me several weeks to get around to trying it, try it I finally did. The recipe was adapted from the I Wash, You Dry blog , and while I MOSTLY followed the recipe, well … let’s just say there’s hardly ever a recipe I follow to the letter. Below is my adaption, and most importantly, baking instructions as it took my recipe nearly double the time to cook as the original recipe called for. I’ve had great success freezing cheesecake and I’ve no doubt that this would freeze well also, though the crumble may loose some of its crispness.
Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients:
- Crust: -
- graham crackers - 8 sheets
- butter - 1/4 cup, melted
- brown sugar - 2 tbsp
- salt - small pinch
- Cheesecake: -
- cream cheese - 16 ounces at room temperature, I used the reduced fat
- eggs - 2, at room temperature
- sour cream - 1/2 cup, I used light
- vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
- salt - 1 pinch
- Topping: -
- blueberries - 2 cups fresh or frozen (if frozen, rinse off ice crystals and pat gently dry JUST before adding)
- blueberry granola - 2 cups approximately
- butter - 1/4 cup, melted
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325-F.
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (I used a 9 x7 pan) and set to the side.
3. Place the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until they are crumbs (not dust!).
4. Combine the crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar and a pinch of salt, then press it into the bottom of the parchment lined pan.
5. Bake the crust at 325-F for about 10 minutes.
6. Beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one a t a time and mix well until combined.
7. Add the sour cream, salt and vanilla and beat until smooth and glossy.
8. Pour the mixture onto the prepared crust and smooth it out evenly.
9. Spread the blueberries evenly over the top of the cream cheese filling.
10. For the topping, place the granola in a plastic bag and beat it with a rolling pin until the lumps are a uniform size. Then combine the granola with butter, and spread it evenly on top of the blueberries.
11. Bake at 325-F for about 45 minutes. It was really hard to tell under the granola when the cheesecake was set. I ended up cooking mine nearly an hour, partly because my eggs and cream cheese were cold. I ended up resorting to a thermometer to tell when the eggs would be set. Eggs cook at 145-F, or at least they're then cooked enough to safely consume.
What’s Said